Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) have worked on interoperability for over a decade. Interoperability is crucial for improving patient care, reducing medical errors, and reducing avoidable procedures and unnecessary rework. The Information Blocking Rule (IBR), a part of the 21st Century Cures Act, aims to prevent healthcare providers and other entities from hindering interoperability or the exchange of electronic health information (EHI). This rule prohibits actions that intentionally restrict or interfere with the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information, promoting a more interconnected healthcare ecosystem. By fostering interoperability, IBR empowers patients and healthcare providers to access and share health information efficiently, leading to better-coordinated care and improved health outcomes.
This blog post will discuss the two main views of the IBR. First, to be compliant with the Information Blocking Rule, healthcare providers and other entities must ensure they are not intentionally restricting or interfering with the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information. This includes implementing systems and processes that enable the seamless flow of patient data while adhering to appropriate security and privacy measures. Second, the Information Blocking Rule offers several benefits, including improved patient care through better access to their health information, reduced medical errors due to more complete and accurate data, and enhanced coordination among healthcare providers. This ultimately leads to better health outcomes for patients and a more efficient healthcare system.
Understanding Information Blocking Compliance
Specific actions by providers, health systems, payers, and hospitals may be considered information blocking. This includes refusing to provide access to electronic health information, imposing unreasonable fees, or using technology that restricts data sharing. By understanding the rule’s requirements and exceptions, entities can ensure they are complying with its provisions, and fostering a more interoperable healthcare ecosystem that benefits patients and providers alike.
The Impact of New Disincentives on Healthcare Providers
Disincentive regulations for healthcare providers went into effect on July 31, 2024. The new disincentive regulations for healthcare providers emphasize the importance of compliance with information blocking rules. These regulations, established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), impose penalties on providers who: “engage in practices that the health care providers knew were unreasonable and were likely to interfere with, prevent, or materially discourage the access, exchange, or use of EHI, except as required by law or covered by a regulatory exception.”
Penalties for Non-Compliance
The penalties for non-compliance with IBR can be significant and vary depending on the severity of the violation. Here’s a breakdown:
Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP): The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) can impose civil monetary penalties of up to $1 million per violation.
Corrective Action Plan: OCR can require the non-compliant entity to develop and implement a corrective action plan to address the violation.
Public Disclosure: OCR can publicly disclose the name of the non-compliant entity and the nature of the violation.
Other Enforcement Actions: In addition to the above, OCR can also take other enforcement actions, such as issuing a Notice of Proposed Determination (NOPD) or a Notice of Enforcement Action (NOEA).
It’s important to note that the Information Blocking Rule also includes a “safe harbor” exception that protects entities from penalties if they can demonstrate that they are acting in good faith and have taken reasonable steps to comply with the rule. However, even with the safe harbor provision, it’s pivotal for entities to understand the rule’s requirements and to take steps to ensure compliance.
Benefits of HIEs to Support IBR Compliance
HIEs can facilitate compliance with the Information Blocking Rule. HIEs act as secure platforms for the exchange of electronic health information between different healthcare providers, enabling seamless data sharing and reducing the likelihood of information blocking. By providing a standardized infrastructure for data exchange, HIEs eliminate the need for providers to develop their own complex systems, which can help to reduce the risk of intentional or unintentional information blocking. Furthermore, HIEs promote interoperability by supporting data exchange in a standard and secure manner, making it easier for providers to access and share patient information. In this way, HIEs contribute significantly to a more interconnected healthcare ecosystem that assists with IBR compliance and benefits both patients and providers.
Conclusion
As healthcare continues to share data and information more frequently, the importance of adhering to information blocking regulations cannot be overstated. The penalties for non-compliance are significant, and the need for seamless access to patient data is critical. HIEs play an important role in helping healthcare providers and caregivers support the secure sharing and accessing of EHI.
UHIN operates and maintains the Clinical Health Information Exchange (The CHIE) that allows caregivers to improve access to data collected from outside of their system. The CHIE is the only HIE in Utah.
For many of us, Memorial Day marks the unofficial start to summer. Hard to believe we’re heading into June! In this month’s newsletter, we look at the importance of resilient, redundant and interoperable systems, the events and webinars coming up, and we attempt to foretell everything that will happen for the rest of the year.
The first half of this year was packed with exciting news and rocked by tech incidents. While we can’t predict the future, we can plan a better path ahead.
Look into your crystal ball 🔮 What are your predictions (big or small) for things to come in healthcare this year? And, what are your goals that you hope to accomplish? We want to hear from you!
Healthcare IT Today Podcast: Will the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Wake Up Healthcare?
John Lynn and Colin Hung look at where the industry stands just two months following the ransomware attack. For healthcare professionals, this could be a watershed moment for information security, revenue cycle management (RCM) and back-up planning for potential, future incidents.
Our most recent blog post (authored by Brian Chin, UHIN’s CEO) addresses the importance of redundant and resilient healthcare systems, and how they support seamless interoperability in times of crisis. There are, of course, great benefits and challenges when it comes to maintaining interoperability during disaster recovery (see them below👇).
September 13: Utah Medical Association (UMA) annual House of Delegates in Midvale, UT
October 15-17: Civitas Annual Conference in Detroit, MI
More to come: Stay tuned!
Trainings and Webinars
Upcoming Online Trainings & Webinars
We’ll host training sessions on the new CHIE platform, specifically for portal users. Stay tuned for more details on our virtual Payer Panels where you can ask questions and get answers from health plan representatives.
This month we announced our affiliation with Comagine Health and added new CHIE data sources from CommonSpirit Health. We look forward to growing with our new strategic partners, customers, and you! Keep reading for what else happened in April and what’s coming up next month.
P.S. Follow our LinkedIn page for more frequent news, posts and insights
Spotlight
UHIN and Comagine Health Announce Our Affiliation
“Aligning our health care knowledge and expertise through affiliation is a profound opportunity to advance our parallel missions, while delivering greater success to our customers and partners. We have collaborated successfully for more than a decade. As affiliates, UHIN and Comagine Health can serve as a unified force for change in health care for the foreseeable future.”
- Brian Chin, UHIN’s Chief Executive Officer
Keep scrolling for more information on our affiliation.
HIT News
The Full Release on our Affiliation
We have announced our official affiliation with Comagine Health, a national nonprofit healthcare consulting firm. We have a long history of working together over the last decade on federal and state initiatives to advance electronic health record (EHR) adoption, cost transparency reporting, capacity and functionality of all-payer claims databases (APCDs) and interoperability and surveillance activities. Combining our technology solutions and Comagine Health’s analytic services will enable more actionable health insights and more sustainable, transformational improvements for communities.
The CHIE adds CommonSpirit Health as a Data Source
The CHIE continues to add important data sources, providing healthcare professionals with vital medical information when it is needed most. Recently, we’ve onboarded CommonSpirit Health as a data source.
We’re attending the WEDI Spring Conference from May 13 – 16 (virtually). We look forward to learning more from experts, like Aneesh Chopra, about solutions to improve information exchange, enhance care quality, and reduce cost and burden.
In addition to online product trainings for our customers, we’re preparing virtual payer panels for later this year. These will be similar to the payer panels you may have attended in previous years at the HIT Conference.
Wrapping Up
Report: Significant Differences in Administrative Costs
We’re reading the recent CAQH report on the wide differences in administrative transaction costs for generalists, specialists and behavioral health providers. “The medical industry spends an astonishing $83 billion annually on staff time to conduct routine administrative transactions between providers and health plans during and after a patient-provider encounter. Providers shoulder 97 percent of these costs.”
The CHIE continues to add important data sources, providing healthcare professionals with vital medical information when it is needed most. Recently, we’ have’ve onboarded CommonSpirit Health as a data source.
These include:
Holy Cross Hospital – Davis (formerly known as Davis Hospital and Medical Center) in Layton
Holy Cross Hospital – Jordan Valley (formerly known as Jordan Valley Medical Center) in West Jordan
Holy Cross Hospital – Jordan Valley West (formerly known as Jordan Valley Medical Center-West Valley Campus) in West Valley City
Holy Cross Hospital – Mountain Point (formerly known as Mountain Point Medical Center) in Lehi
Holy Cross Hospital – Salt Lake (formerly known as Salt Lake Regional Medical Center) in Salt Lake City
And their clinics
CommonSpirit Health is a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people.
“Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Such was life in the healthcare information technology sector this month. We collectively faced daunting cyber circumstances and peered into an optimistic future filled with the possibilities of A.I., resilient and redundant networks, and healthcare interoperability for all.
Spotlight
Our Response to the Change Cyber Incident
UHIN is dedicated to maintaining interoperability for all payers, providers and partners. When an event as large as the Change Healthcare cyber incident impacts our community, we know we need to serve as a bridge to stable ground. Read more about the actions we’re taking to support our community at this time.
We’re actively supporting Providers by expediting enrollment with Payers to get claims flowing again. Providers can leverage our solutions to create and send professional and institutional claims, submit via SFTP, file tool or online hand-entry, check claims status, manage denials and rejections, and search, view, and download payment information.
We can connect with health plans, so they may receive claims from providers through a direct connection to our clearinghouse. Empower your provider network by elevating your collaboration efforts, securely sharing information and data, and providing better affordable care for your members.
The alarming rise in cyber threats – namely ransomware – highlight the urgent need for enhanced cyber resiliency and robust security measures in healthcare. Read our recent blog post with five ways to reduce your risk and secure personal health information (PHI) from cyberattacks.
HIMSS shared their recap of the 2024 Global Health Conference & Exhibition (March 11-15 in Orlando). Cybersecurity, A.I.,and health equity and access to care delivery were big themes this year. What were you most excited to learn at HIMSS this year?
We’re preparing a series of online trainings for CHIE users this year. Explore our new platform and share feedback with our HIT experts. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming trainings.
Wrapping Up
Thriving in Complexity from the Comagine Health Blog
Comagine Health President and CEO Marc Bennett addresses how the organization has been managing competing tensions while building partnerships to serve as a prime contractor for the 13th Statement of Work in the Midwest CMS QIN-QIO Region 6.
Thanks for spending this extra day going around the sun with us. In February, we dove into the 2023 CAQH Index Report and prepared for the CHIE’s migration to a new platform.
One more thing: For our providers experiencing disruptions in their claims management due to the Change cyberattack, we’re here to help. Please contact us to fast track your enrollment with payers at customersuccess@uhin.org.
Spotlight
Black History Month and American Heart Month
In February we recognized Black History Month and American Heart Month. Here are just a couple ways to support and celebrate these causes throughout the entire year:
For health care professionals and clinicians, use the resources in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) heart toolkit to support their patients, especially women, by listening to their heart.
In Utah? Dive into Utah’s rich black history at the Utah Black History Museum! Find the mobile exhibit across Utah this year or consider donating.
HIT News
The CHIE is Moving to a New Platform!
The new platform empowers CHIE users to better understand patient populations, provide greater care, reduce waste while improving quality, and pinpoint at-risk patients to intervene before their next encounter.
After consulting with our community’s advisory committee, we will be migrating five years of data with the exception of opt out consents, immunizations, allergies, and colonoscopies for which a longer history will be migrated.
Technical implementation is currently underway and we anticipate user migrations will start in Q2 of 2024. We will keep all CHIE users informed of our progress via email.
We published two blog posts sharing our thoughts on the most recent CAQH Index released earlier this month. How did electronic transaction adoption and healthcare administration change in 2023 for both providers and payers? Keep reading to find out.
Our CEO, Brian Chin, recently attended ViVe 2024. Artificial Intelligence was a hot topic this year, as you may have expected. Check out a few photos from the conference here.
Are you going to HIMSS 2024? Let us know what you’re most excited to see while in Orlando next month at communications@uhin.org.
Trainings and Webinars
CHIE platform trainings
We have online trainings coming up for the new CHIE platform. Please sign up for CHIE updates and our Events notifications to add these to your calendar so you don’t miss a thing!
Wrapping Up
Share your story, plus looking ahead to March
Do you have something your peers in healthcare and tech just have to know about? An innovative interoperability solution or point of view? Please email us at communications@uhin.org and we’ll include links to our favorite community content each month.
Next month we’ll attend HIMSS 2024 and help to raise awareness of the risks and symptoms of diabetes on American Diabetes Alert Day (March 26).
Join our monthly newsletter and don’t miss anything!
More than one in four elderly people (ages 65 and older) suffer from a fall every year. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics demonstrate that just one fall is a preamble to a far scarier story:
Falling just one time can double the chances of that elderly person falling again, which could lead to death
20% of falls result in serious injury
Less than 50% of those who suffer from a fall will tell their doctor
“Falls among adults 65 and older caused over 36,000 deaths in 2020, making it the leading cause of injury and death for that group.”(CDC, Older Adults Fall Prevention)
Many falls are preventable and, as mentioned above, approximately half go unreported. Providers can stay informed with predictive information about their elderly patients to anticipate falls and take action to keep our senior population healthy.
How to Stay Informed: Falls Risk Indicator
One source of information for providers to help fill this reporting gap is Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data on non-transport falls. To help address this issue, UHIN partnered with Utah’s National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS).
UHIN ingests EMS non-transport fall information from NEMSIS and uses it in conjunction with patient age and past encounter diagnoses that have been reported to the CHIE to provide a yes/no risk assessment of a patient’s risk of falling in the short term. Utilizing the CHIE’s Falls Risk Indicator, providers receive timely information about potential falls within their patient population, empowering them to contact patients with the right support to keep them healthy and independent.
In addition to the Falls Risk Indicator, notification alerts include data pertaining to the patient’s condition and can include LACE scores to help caregivers prioritize care. LACE scores are industry indicators that assign a score on a scale of 1-19 assessing the patient’s risk of readmission. The score is a combination of the L:length of stay in a hospital (in number of days), A: acuity of admission, C: comorbidities, and E: emergency department visits in the last 6 months.
What is a Patient Event Notification?
Notifications about patients which physicians can receive as a file at their preferred frequency (real time, daily, weekly, monthly) by logging into MYUHIN or integrated into their EHR.
CHIE Alerts with Falls Risk Indicator and LACE Score
CHIE Alerts are automated electronic notifications informing providers about an event their patients have recently experienced. Admission, Discharge and Transfer (ADT) Alerts fill in the missing pieces necessary to manage patient care. The Falls Risk Indicator and LACE Score may be included in CHIE Alerts.
Providers opt-in to receive notifications because they’re an important component of continuity of care. Providers can identify the patients who require critical intervention and schedule follow-up appointments after hospitalizations. Notifications help prevent readmissions, improve care coordination and patient experiences. An additional benefit includes revenue integrity; by allowing providers to bill the appropriate level code, which may be of a higher value in instances of transition of care patients.
For Granger Clinic, CHIE Alerts helped their Transition of Care Management (TCM) team increase the number of patients identified as needing TCM from about one per week to an estimated 750 per month. Additionally, CHIE Alerts helped the Granger TCM team decrease readmission rates by 61%.
Payers that receive alerts can route patients into case management, which helps to reduce high emergency room department utilizations through increased visibility into member care activities and utilization trends.
Alerts can be tailored by type, such as inpatient, outpatient or emergency, and frequency based on needs and desires. Community providers and payers can receive notifications by subscribing to the CHIE Alerts service and providing UHIN with a panel of patients representative of the population for which they are providing care.
Click below to sign up to receive CHIE Alerts that include a Falls Risk Indicator and LACE Score.
This notice is to inform you of important updates to the UHIN Requirements. The UHIN Requirements are the standards, specifications, policies, procedures, and guidelines that apply to the UHIN Network. All UHIN members contractually agree to comply with the UHIN Requirements (and changes thereto) as part of their participation in the UHIN Network and their use of UHIN’s clearinghouse, clinical health information exchange (CHIE), and related services.
The UHIN Board of Directors—which is comprised of community stakeholders from the Utah healthcare community—recently approved the addition of a Member Policies and Procedures Manual (Version 1) (the “Member Manual”) to the UHIN Requirements. The Member Manual supports our community’s compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act interoperability mandates as well as health information privacy, security and breach notification laws. The updated UHIN Requirements may be found at https://support.uhin.org/s/article/Member-Policies-And-Procedures-Manual.
The Member Manual includes the following policies applicable to all members:
Data Submission Policy
Security Specifications and Network Maintenance Policy
Security Event Reporting Policy
Minimum Necessary Procedure
Individual Rights Policy
The Member Manual also contain the following CHIE specific policies to support compliance with the federal prohibition on information blocking:
The CHIE No Information Blocking Policy
The CHIE Notice and Opt Out Policy
The CHIE Permitted Purpose Policy, including expanded permitted purposes that fully support HIPAA-permitted treatment, payment and health care operation activities of health care providers and health plans, as well as UHIN’s uses of CHIE data to support limited public health activities, research and data analytic services (collectively, the “Expanded Permitted Purposes”).
The Member Manual is effective as of January 1, 2024.
For organizations or agencies that have, may, or are a CHIE data supplier: pursuant to our current contract, CHIE members who make clinical data available through the CHIE must consent to the Expanded Permitted Purposes. Please sign and return the attached form indicating your affirmative consent to the Expanded Permitted Purposes no later than January 1, 2024. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR ORGANIZATION’S OR AGENCY’S CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE UHIN NETWORK AFTER JANUARY 1, 2024 CONSTITUTES YOUR ORGANIZATION’S OR AGENCY’S IMPLIED CONSENT TO THE EXPANDED PURPOSES. IF YOUR ORGANIZATION OR AGENCY DOES NOT CONSENT TO THE EXPANDED PERMITTED PURPOSES, YOU MUST SEND UHIN YOUR WRITTEN NOTICE OF INTENT TO TERMINATE PARTICIPATION IN THE UHIN NETWORK NO LATER THAN JANUARY 1, 2024.
Every patient deserves a full, dynamic portrait of their care story. We believe in our power to create a more vibrant and complete picture together.
The HIT Conference will feature four tracks with sessions covering topics like population health, interoperability, care delivery, and health equity, as well as popular sessions from previous PES conferences, like “Medicare Hot Topics” with Lori Weber and the Payer Panel. Join other healthcare professionals and attend sessions by esteemed speakers from the State of Utah, Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), University of Utah Health, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Noridian Healthcare Solutions, BYU, AUCH, Comagine, SLCo Health Department, UHIN, and more to be announced!
This event is tailored for professionals across the healthcare ecosystem, such as CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, Chief Medical Officers, VPs, directors, doctors, nurses, administrators, office managers, billers, educators and many more roles at health plans, hospital systems, providers, clinics, higher education institutes, and nonprofit organizations.
PES at HIT
For the first time ever, we’ve combined the annual Provider Education Summit (PES) and the HIT conference into a one-day, hybrid event. PES is an educational event for health plans and providers, billers, office managers, coders, administrators and more. PES will have a dedicated track, Provider Education, at the HIT conference this year.
Welcome Keynote
Rich Saunders
Chief Innovation Officer, Utah
Rich Saunders is Utah’s first chief innovation officer and is charged to help lead the Cox-Henderson administration’s commitment to aggressively upgrade state government efficiencies, innovations, and responsiveness to Utah residents, including a world-class customer experience initiative, and organizing the One Utah Health Collaborative nonprofit. Rich previously served as the executive director of the Utah Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and before state government, was an entrepreneur for 25 years with extensive experience in multiple verticals and significant sales networks nationwide. Rich has an ongoing passion for leadership, knowledge, organizational health, and service to his community.
Closing Session
Brittany Bowe
Olympic Speed Skater and Medalist
Three-time Olympian, Two-time Olympic medalist, 1,000-meter world record holder
Brittany Bowe led the way for Team USA as the flag bearer for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. She is a Three-time Olympian and Two-time Olympic medalist who gave up her spot in the 500m at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games for Teammate Erin Jackson – recognized as one of the most selfless acts in Olympic history.
1,000-meter world record holder… Reigning 1,000-meter season-long world cup champion… Won seven consecutive 1,000-meter world cup races from December 2018 to December 2019, the longest win streak by a U.S. woman. She helped end a 12-year U.S. women’s drought with an Olympic bronze medal in the team pursuit, and finished top-five in all four of her races at the 2018 Olympics. She is also a Six-time world champion, 20-time world championship medalist and 73-time world cup medalist.
As a gay athlete and LGBTQ+ advocate, uses her platform to promote inclusion and support others. She volunteers as an ambassador for nonprofits Right to Play and Athlete Ally.
Brittany suffered a concussion while training for the 2018 Olympics and was diagnosed with POTS, which means the body does not control blood pressure or heart rate after you stand up. She overcame her fear from that setback and, through an aggressive rehab program, returned to the podium.
Brittany previously played college basketball at Florida Atlantic University and won 32 world championship medals in inline skating before switching to ice. She is dedicated to maintaining a healthy balance between the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of life, and is working toward her yoga teacher certification. Also, Brittany is a cat owner.
Motto: “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect!”
Tracks and Speakers
10:00 a.m. “A Novel Outpatient Complex Care Model – Using Claims Data for Risk Stratification and Evaluation” Dr. Peter Weir | Executive Medical Director of Population Health, University of Utah Health
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A review of the Intensive Outpatient Clinic – highly coordinated and integrated care for Medicaid members with complex mental and medical health problems that result in high utilization.
11:00 a.m. “Partnerships to Increase HPV Vaccine Rates for Utah’s Community Health Centers” Shlisa Hughes | Quality Improvement Director, AUCH
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AUCH is committed to preventing HPV related cancers through improving HPV vaccination rates. AUCH has partnered with Huntsman Center for HOPE, the U of U, Huntsman Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society and the UDHHS, and Utah’s Federally Qualified Health Centers to use automation and interoperability with clinical workflows to improve immunization rates for Utah’s youth. We will share results and innovations from across the state.
Kassy Keen, MPH | Health Equity Bureau Manager, Salt Lake County Health Department
Read more
Health equity has gained increased attention, resources, and support as COVID-19 and social justice movements transform our communities. Often we discuss health equity frameworks, which can be abstract and confusing, offering little guidance around implementation. So, what does it look like to incorporate health equity into systems, programs, and policies in the medical and health field? In this presentation, we will discuss operationalizing health equity, and explore a broad scope of tangible ideas to build capacity, and instill new processes, procedures, and data to create better outcomes for our communities.
2:00 p.m.Orion Health Presentation Chad Peterson | Chief Revenue Officer, Orion Health
3:00 p.m. “Using Analytics to Improve Personal and Population Health“ Sara Hallvik | Vice President of Data Solutions, Comagine Health
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Health data can be a powerful tool in improving both personal and population health, but one must consider several factors first. Data governance determines who and how data is used. Data quality determines whether results can be trusted. Combining data sources increases the complexity but can also increase the power of the data. This opens the way to descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics, where one can harness their data’s true potential.
10:00 a.m. “Why Are We Still Challenged by Identity Matching and Data Quality?Follow Oscar’s Patient Journey” Gregg Church | President, 4medica, Inc.
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Access to accurate, complete, and timely data is one of the most valuable assets in any healthcare organization. The push toward value-based care and population health initiatives including the response to COVID-19 have amplified the need for efficient exchange of quality patient data, filling gaps in information and offering providers and payers a more complete picture of the patient. Quality data improves care coordination, clinical outcomes, and saves lives but can only be achieved with accurate patient identification or matching across multiple sources.
Learning Objectives:
The need for exchanging reliable clinical and administrative data in “real time” for better care coordination and population health management
How patient data is being exchanged securely and reliably for care coordination decisions
How HIE’s and health networks use quality health data to exchange and provide ‘actionable’ data insights in and out of their community
11:00 a.m.“Setting Utah’s Standards: You Hold the Power” Boyd Kreeck | Business Analyst, UHIN
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The UHIN Standards Organization is a nonprofit, broad-based coalition of Utah healthcare insurers, providers, and others, including local government entities. The purpose of the Standards Committee is to develop administrative, technical, and billing standards and specifications based on existing federal and state regulation.
Standards created by the committee and approved by the UHIN Board are provided to the Utah State Department of Insurance, Utah Health and Human Services and published in State Rules and made available to the public at UHIN.org. In addition to developing Utah Standards, the UHIN Standards Committee participates in the development of National standards and guidance.
1:00 p.m. “The Present and Future of HIEs“ Michelle Suitor | Director of the Clinical Health Information Exchange, UHIN
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A discussion on the history of interoperability and an overview of the various standards covered from both the claims and clinical standpoint. This session will explore what that means for Utah, and provide examples of specific use cases.
2 p.m. “Coordinating and Aligning Health IT: An update on nationwide health IT and interoperability goals” Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., M.P.P. | National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Join ONC’s National Coordinator Micky Tripathi for updates on:
ONC’s work to align health IT activities across HHS agencies
How the Trusted Exchange Framework, Common Agreement (TEFCA) will ease information sharing across networks of EHRs and other health IT systems
The continued implementation and enforcement of the information blocking regulations
Data standardization efforts to promote equity, reduce disparities, and support public health data interoperability
And more!
3:00 p.m. “HIE Transformation: It’s About More Than Data“ Mary-Sara Jones | Sr. Business Development Executive, Health & Human Services, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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The Public Health landscape is changing. It is getting broader and deeper. The global pandemic highlighted fragmentation across and within organizations and the incompleteness of the data available to decision makers. There is a hunger for better, richer, cleaner data to support more holistic decisions and move efforts toward prevention. For many states data modernization and digital transformation will occur in parallel. Immediate updates to shared data infrastructure can provide meaningful insights while updated paradigms of service delivery are reimagined with modern technology to better meet provider and constituent expectations. Health Information Exchanges play a central role in creating and maintaining a connected data ecosystem driving improved patient outcomes and community vitality. This presentation with Natasha Nicolai explores future models for HIEs, how data transformation can provide immediate community impact, and what is required to create the parallel path to digital transformation.
3:00 p.m. “HIE Transformation: It’s About More Than Data“ Natasha Nicolai | AWS WWPS SLG Leader, Health and Human Services Analytics, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Read more
The Public Health landscape is changing. It is getting broader and deeper. The global pandemic highlighted fragmentation across and within organizations and the incompleteness of the data available to decision makers. There is a hunger for better, richer, cleaner data to support more holistic decisions and move efforts toward prevention. For many states data modernization and digital transformation will occur in parallel. Immediate updates to shared data infrastructure can provide meaningful insights while updated paradigms of service delivery are reimagined with modern technology to better meet provider and constituent expectations. Health Information Exchanges play a central role in creating and maintaining a connected data ecosystem driving improved patient outcomes and community vitality. This presentation with Mary-Sara Jones explores future models for HIEs, how data transformation can provide immediate community impact, and what is required to create the parallel path to digital transformation.
10:00 a.m. “Beating Hypertension, the Silent Killer“ Nickee Andjelic, MS, CHES | Maternal and Infant Health Program Manager, Utah Department of Health and Human Services
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The Utah 6|18 Workgroup is a cross-collaborative workgroup focusing on addressing 6 high-cost and preventable health conditions with 18 evidence-based and cost-effective interventions. For 2022, the workgroup selected to focus on self-monitoring blood pressure (SMBP) by hypertensive patients with clinical support to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Hypertension is the silent killer and is a comorbidity and risk factor for a number of other chronic conditions. One in 4 Utah adults have diagnosed hypertension and 15-30% of Utah adults have undiagnosed hypertension. Strong evidence supports that SMBP interventions, when combined with additional support like patient counseling, education, or web-based support, are effective in improving blood pressure outcomes in patients with high blood pressure. Home blood pressure monitors are a covered benefit under Utah Medicaid and many resources are available to support clinic training and member education to encourage accurate SMBP and clinical support.
10:00 a.m. “Beating Hypertension, the Silent Killer“ Dr. Richard Ferguson | Chief Medical Officer, Health Choice Utah
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The Utah 6|18 Workgroup is a cross-collaborative workgroup focusing on addressing 6 high-cost and preventable health conditions with 18 evidence-based and cost-effective interventions. For 2022, the workgroup selected to focus on self-monitoring blood pressure (SMBP) by hypertensive patients with clinical support to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Hypertension is the silent killer and is a comorbidity and risk factor for a number of other chronic conditions. One in 4 Utah adults have diagnosed hypertension and 15-30% of Utah adults have undiagnosed hypertension. Strong evidence supports that SMBP interventions, when combined with additional support like patient counseling, education, or web-based support, are effective in improving blood pressure outcomes in patients with high blood pressure. Home blood pressure monitors are a covered benefit under Utah Medicaid and many resources are available to support clinic training and member education to encourage accurate SMBP and clinical support.
10:00 a.m. “Beating Hypertension, the Silent Killer“ Rachel Vasquez | Quality Program Manager, Health Choice Utah
Read more
The Utah 6|18 Workgroup is a cross-collaborative workgroup focusing on addressing 6 high-cost and preventable health conditions with 18 evidence-based and cost-effective interventions. For 2022, the workgroup selected to focus on self-monitoring blood pressure (SMBP) by hypertensive patients with clinical support to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Hypertension is the silent killer and is a comorbidity and risk factor for a number of other chronic conditions. One in 4 Utah adults have diagnosed hypertension and 15-30% of Utah adults have undiagnosed hypertension. Strong evidence supports that SMBP interventions, when combined with additional support like patient counseling, education, or web-based support, are effective in improving blood pressure outcomes in patients with high blood pressure. Home blood pressure monitors are a covered benefit under Utah Medicaid and many resources are available to support clinic training and member education to encourage accurate SMBP and clinical support.
11:00 a.m. “The Challenge is HOW not Why: Integrating the Social Determinants of Health in Healthcare“ Dr. Len Novilla | Associate Professor, BYU
1:00 p.m. “Countering Cybersecurity Risks Across Your Organization” Keith Roberts | Information Security Analyst, UHIN
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Presentation on the importance of cybersecurity in healthcare. We’ll look at a recent data breach investigations report, how to stop cybersecurity, and the importance of staff training.
2:00 p.m. “Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials in Health Care“ George McEwan | Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Department of Government Operations at the State of Utah
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On May 26th, 2011 Google introduced Google Wallet on android phones. Not to be left out of a really good marking term, Apple followed suit on September 19th 2012, launching Apple Wallet. Ten years later and it is still “novel” to pay with a phone. What happened and why does it matter now?
The future of legally binding, decentralized digital identity and verifiable credentials has expanded beyond simple digital wallets and is debuting in government in the near future. This session provides the background you’ll need to participate in the next identity revolution.
3:00 p.m. “Intro and Overview of the One Utah Health Collaborative“ James Wissler | Executive Director, One Utah Health Collaborative
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This intro/overview of the One Utah Health Collaborative will have an emphasis on the barriers and the importance of community alignment regarding interoperability. A panel of innovators, clinicians, and interoperability experts will join Jaime Wissler to discuss the questions of how and why we’re working toward a longitudinal health record.
10:00 a.m. “Motivating for Performance: How Leaders Can Help Teams Find Their Drive” Blake Bishop | Vice President of Data Services, Neovest, a JPMorgan Chase subsidiary
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Intrinsic motivation plays a pivotal role in organizational performance management. Not surprisingly, there is a strong correlation between employee motivation and business success. The factors that drive the desire to perform, however, may come as a surprise to many. In this presentation, we will explore what intrinsic motivation is, why intrinsic motivation matters, and how you as a leader can motivate your team members to perform at their peak.
11:00 a.m. “Medicare Hot Topics” Lori Weber | Provider Relations Specialist, Noridian Healthcare Solutions
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This presentation encompasses updates, important topics and valuable resources to assist your practice with successful Medicare billing.
1:00 p.m.“Life of a Claim: Creation, Rejection, Elation” Joy Cone | Application Support Analyst, UHIN
2:00 p.m.MYUHINClaims Greg Lobato | Group Product Manager, UHIN
3:00 p.m. Payer Panel Representatives from DMBA, EMI, HCU, Noridian Medicare B, PEHP, Regence, SelectHealth, and University of Utah Health Plans
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Q&A session with a panel of provider relations specialists and representatives from national and local, Utah health plans. This popular session answers some of providers most pressing questions. In previous years, questions have included:
Which are the most common errors that keep claims from processing?
What are the procedure codes with modifiers that should be used for phone visits for each insurance company?
Are all the payers reimbursing for Telehealth visits at the same rates as in person visits during the pandemic?
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Venue
Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek
75 S W Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Free parking for 2022 HIT Conference attendees
REFUND POLICY
We will accept refund requests up to 10 days following the date of the conference. To be eligible for a refund, you must submit via email to events@uhin.org. In your email, include your name, order number, and number of tickets to be refunded, as well as a reason for the refund request.
Once we receive your request, we will review and notify you on the status of your refund. If your request is approved, we will initiate a refund to your credit card or original method of payment.
Please contact events@uhin.org with any additional questions.
77% of claims submitted identified providers as potential actor; only two claims identified HIEs
New ONC data shows almost 300 claims of healthcare organizations allegedly blocking access to patient data. Since information blocking regulations went into effect last April, the ONC has received 274 possible claims of information blocking.
Of those claims, 176 were submitted by patients. The majority of claims submitted (211) identified a “health care provider” as the potential actor, with 42 claims naming health information technology developers, and only two claims identifying health information exchanges.
Claim Counts by Types of Claimant
Claim Counts by Potential Actor
Source: Information Blocking Claims: By the Numbers – https://www.healthit.gov/data/quickstats/information-blocking-claims-numbers
“…the circumstances described in the claims may offer insight into potential impediments to EHI access, exchange, or use,” wrote ONC executives Rachel Nelson and Cassie Weaver in a release article. “Though we cannot tell through simple triage whether a particular claim represents information blocking as defined in the regulations, some of the concerns described in the claims we have received appear on their face consistent with examples of practices likely to interfere with access, exchange, or use of EHI that we described in ONC’s Cures Act proposed and final rules.”
In accordance with the 21st Century Cures Act, the ONC seeks to stop certain information blocking practices. New rules were issued in 2020 regarding information blocking regulations with compliance dates going into effect April 5, 2021.
UHIN has long been a proponent of interoperability across the healthcare industry. Our vision is to create a more connected healthcare system that drives innovation, collaboration, and inclusiveness.